Golf-club separator



H. F. HATCH. GOLF CLUB-SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED APR-14. .922.

Patented May 23, 1922.

PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT I, HATCH, OF NEN'I'ON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GOLF-CLUB SEPARATOR.

Application filed April 14, 1922.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Hnnnnnr F. HA'roH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Golf-Club Separators, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like'characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to golf club separators. In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood, I have disclosed a single embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawing, wherein- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the upper end of a golf club bag having my invention applied thereto and representing several golf clubs in position in the bag;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an underneath plan view of the golf club separator shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

. Fig. I is a detail in vertical section taken through a part of the golf club separator and the rim of the golf bag.

So far as I am aware golf clubs are carried loosely in the golf club bags which are ofstandard shape and construction, and it 1s well known to golfers that the shafts of the clubs frequently become so damaged because of knocking one against another in carrying the bag from place to place, as seriouslyto damage the clubs and frequently to require new shafts to be fitted thereto.

The difficulty is accentuated because of the fact that the shafts of the clubs are of different lengths so that the heads or driving or stroke ends of the shorter ones strike against the shafts of the longer clubs with the result stated. So far as I am aware no one has heretofore provided a club separator adapted to be attached to or to form a part of the club bag and accordingly I desire to claim my invention broadly. I will describe that single specific embodiment of my in vention which I have selected for illustration, but without limiting myself to the disclosure.

A golf club bag of usual structure is indicated at 1, in Fig. 1. It is customarily provided with a handle 2 by which it may be carried in the hand, usually at about the angle shown and with a strap 3 which is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1922.

Serial No. 552,491.

adapted to be placed over the shoulder so as also to support the bag at about the angle shown. The said bag is customarily provlded with a rim illustrated at 4 and which may be formed of a leather or other ring like member 5 which with the surrounding material 6 of the bag forms a bead or annular enlargement. The strap 3 may extend to the inside of the mouth of the bag as indicated in Fig. 1.

I apply to the end portion of the ba 1 what I term a separator for the clubs. 6bvlously the separator may be made of any sultable material. Desirably, however, it is formed of leather or of some suitable fibre, though within the scope of my invention a metal may be employed, and in some cases the separator may be formed of wire whereof suitable meshes are formed. A softer materlal, such as leather, has, however, advantages in that it cannot injure either the bag or the golf clubs. 7

The separator may form a permanent part of the bag within the scope of my invention, but inasmuch as it is desirable to have ready and complete access to the interior of the bag so as to place larger articles than a club therein, as, for example, some article of clothing or the like, it is of advantage to have the separator detachable and preferably readily detachable. Furthermore by making the separator a separate article of manufacture and sale it may readily be applied to existing golf club bags, since such bags are almost always of standard dimensions, as, for example, five or six inches in diameter and the separator of my invention is of corresponding dimensions. Obviously also the separator, if detachable, may be 'applied to the extreme end of the bag or to the inside of the bag near the end. I prefer, however, to apply the separator to the very end of the bag as it thus very effectively supports the clubs and also affords a protection to the end of the bag. In the event that the separator is detachable, it may obviously be detachably secured in many different ways. I will describe the single means shown without limiting myself thereto.

The separator, which is indicated as a whole at 7, is of disk form and is desirably of leather. It has a number of openings which may vary in number, form and location as desired. I have herein indicated eight openings 8 to 15 arranged in a circular series and a central opening 16. In its preferred form the separator is a ring-dike spider member of flexible material.

Obviously the clubs may be distributed in the several openings as desired, but I have found it in practice to be advantageous to support the clubs with wooden heads or stroke ends such as the .driver, the brassie and the spoon. in the openings 7, 8, 9 or 8, 9, 10, which are uppermost as the bag is car ried, and to place the other clubs having iron heads or stroke ends in the remaining openings, such clubs usually being or including the driving iron or clock, the mid-iron, the jigger, the mashie, the mashie niblic, the niblic and the putter. It is desirable that the shorter clubs be supported inthe lower openings, though obviously this may be varied according to the wishes o'fsthe individual golfer.

In order detachahly to secure the separator to the bag, I have in this embodiment-of the inventionprovided a plurality of metal clips 1-7 here shown as four in number held in place by rivets 18, and of a general U shape, and sufficiently springy so as to be expanded when they are forced over the rim 4;, thus causing them ,togjrip the ring with sufiicient force to hold the separator firmly in place but permitting the separator to be readily detached by the employment of sufficient force. The metal clips '17 are resilient but are themselves rigidly attached to the perimeter of the separator at spaced intervals.

ous advantages. rates the clubs so that thegolter may readily A separator suchas described has numer- In the first place it sepagrasp the desired club, since all the clubs are slightly spaced apart, and are not all in a loose mass resting against each other,

as is usually the case. Further, the separator protects the clubs from knocking together; it prevents rattling of them; and furthermore it protects the rim 4 of the bag,

and inasmuch as it can be applied to an old and other advantages of my invention will be readily apparent to the golfer.

It is evident that within the scope of my invention, if the separator be a permanent part of the bag it may be secured perinanently in position or it may be hinged to the bag. Desirably, however, it is wholly" detachable for thereasons which I have stated.

Having thus described one illustrative embodiment of my invention, I desire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims- 1. As an article of manufacture and sale, a golf club separator constituting an attachment for golf bags, comprising a ring-like spider member of flexible material having a plurality of resilient clips rigidly attached to its perimeter at spaced intervals.

2. As an article of manufacture and sale, a golf club separator for golf bags, compris ing a ring-like spider member, of flexible ma terial having a diameter substantiallyequalling-that of the golf bag to which it isto be attached, said member having a pluralityof resilient clips rigidly attached to its perimeter at spaced intervals and adapted to be sprung over the upper rim of the golf bag and to receive the golf clubs in the openings of said member,

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HERBERT r. HATCH. 

